Overview: The purpose of your final exam speech is to celebrate a person, event, object, or idea OR to craft a 5-minute speech that includes a visual aid slideshow. You are welcome to choose from a variety of types of speeches here, which could include: a toast or roast, an award presentation, acceptance speech, keynote address, graduation speech, an epideictic speech, a eulogy, and/or an after-dinner speech. If you choose the visual speech option, you can choose any type of speech. Regardless of what speech you choose, it must be 5 minutes. You are welcome to be creative and imagine a situation and event that has not yet occurred. You can use humor!
As you prepare your speech, you need to consider and answer several questions:
1. What type of commemorative/special occasion speech do you plan to give? You may choose to give a eulogy, a toast, present an award, receive an award, or give a graduation address, etc.
2. What or who is being celebrated in your speech? What do you need to know about the person or situation?
3. What is the situation or context in which this speech is being given? How can you adapt your speech to fit the expectations of the context? What are the emotions that are expected in this situation?
4. Who is in your audience? How can you adapt your speech to fit your audiences expectations?
5. If choosing the visual speech option, are you going to be able to accomplish your goals in the 5 minute time limit?
Organizing your speech: Since commemorative/special occasion speeches have a much more fluid structure and organization than informative or persuasive speeches, your speech does not need to have obvious transitions and main points. However, each type of commemorative speech has a set of expectations for how the speech will be structured and what will happen in the speech. Your speech should meet the expectations for the particular type of commemorative speech that you have selected. For example, if you are giving a wedding toast, you need to remember to ask everyone to raise their glasses and toast the couple at the end of your speech. If you are receiving an award, you should begin by thanking the person or organization that gave you the award.
If you choose the visual talk option, you can use any of the speech organizational structures we have talked about in class or in the book. You must have at least 5 slides in the presentation.
Language: Commemorative speeches rely heavily on the use of language structures and devices to help heighten the importance and emotion of the situation. Vivid language will only benefit the speech content.
Notes: While planning your speech, you will develop a full sentence preparation outline. When you give your speech in class on Zoom or through a video recording, you should use notecards to help deliver the speech.
